Abstract: The Corsair H50 is a no fuss no muss, lower noise CPU thermal solution that installs with the relative ease of a regular CPU heatsink. The H50 liquid cooling system arrives fully assembled, pre-filled with a distilled water/propylene glycol coolant and is pre-plumbed.

The 120mm WPM fan on the Corsair Hydro H50 heat
exchanger spins at 1000-1700RPM by default. A single 4-pin
motherboard power connector is used for the fan, a separate
3-pin power connector for the pump. The radiator is keyed for 120mm
fans and should be attached to the rear of a computer case
through cases' 120mm fan mounting holes. Corsair recommend installing
the fan and heat exchanger with the fan drawing cool air
into the case, not
exhausting out. The effective area of the aluminum heat exchanger is 118x116mm.
Overall radiator dimensions are 120x156x26mm.

Detailed specifications on the Corsair Hydro H50 pump such as pump
RPM, pressure head and flow rate are not available. There are no
provisions for removing the tubing for inspection, system refill or
cleaning.

The copper baseplate is
held in place with regular screws, a rubber washer just inside
the flange means they are not in contact with the coolant. This is important as iron
in contact with copper and aluminum can create a situation where the more
electronegative metals cause the ferrous based materials to corrode.

At left is the bottom plate removed from the pump heat to show
the inlet/outlet diameters and captive screw wells. The copper plate in measures 47x54mm
and ships with a pre-applied patch of grey thermal compound.

Base Finish and Flatness

Flipping a heatsink over to inspect the business
end is often a simple indicator of overall cooler quality. More practically
speaking, a heatsink is in many ways only as effective as the contact it makes
with the processor - the flatter and smoother the better. Base finish is one of
the criteria that Frostytech measure in the course of evaluating heatsinks, and
it involves two distinct aspects. Surface Finish is the first; this is
calculated with the aid of Surface Roughness Comparator that has a cross section
of common machine surface finishes and their numerical surface roughness
equivalents in microinches. The second is Surface Flatness. This is tested with
an engineers straight edge or proven flat surface, in two axis.

The copper base of the Corsair Hydro H50 waterblock has a sanded finish with
a surface roughness of approximately ~16 microinches. The manufacturer ships it
with a pre-applied patch of gray thermal compound for ease of installation (shown with/without in the above pictures). The base is significantly convex
in one axis and slightly convex in the opposite, so essentially the
center of the copper base plate is domed up.

Next up Frostytech looks into the noise levels of this
heatsink, then it's onto AMD and
Intel thermal tests!